Barcelona, Spain
Where are you living right now?
In Barcelona,
Spain.
How would you describe your everyday life?
Waiting for the
weekend, the next escape-trip and the annual holidays. Day-to-day life feels a
lot like a continuous preparation or pause for what is to come. I work in front
of a computer screen Monday-Friday, so in the evenings I need to get some
exercise. I used to skateboard a lot, but now I run instead and do other stuff.
Are you traveling this summer? How do you
choose your destinations?
Yes! We're going
to Scandinavia again this year. Last year my girlfriend and I camped throughout
Finland and travelled over to Sweden in the North, Lappland, and we were blown
away. So this year we're going back in August for a hiking trip up there,
around Kungsleden (King's Trail). After that we're going to Island for the
first time. So another couple of weeks of sleeping in a tent this year!
In photography, do you think we capture the
art in and of life, or rather produce art by highlighting things and
situations?
I don't know
anything about art or photography. I guess art is what people try to produce
and life and nature are just life, the world, whatever people and animals and
nature do and whatever goes on, because it has no own intention of becoming art.
It is just what it is and what goes on and it's all science or nature. If you
capture that, then your photograph could most likely be considered art;
probably at least by yourself or by whoever chooses to see it that way. It
could also be nothing. But then again, I don't know anything about art.
Which camera(s) are you using the most
recently? Do you have a favourite camera?
I've been trying
out a Nikon FM that I got recently, but I still prefer my Yashica T4; the lens
and its convenience is just great.
Do you like/use Instagram?
Yes, I use it mostly
as distraction from work: It can make time go faster sometimes and occasionally
you see something interesting. As all of social media, it can be a good way of
interacting with many of your friends that you don't get to see often. So, yes,
in that sense I like it. In a bunch of other perspectives I don't like it. But,
I mean, you can pretty much customize your deal so you can decide on your own
experience and it's up to you.
Do you organize your photographic work in a
specific manner? Do you digitize everything?
Yes, I get my
photos scanned and just keep them in chronological order, naming rolls after
location. That way I know when and where they were taken. No big secrets. Maybe
this reflects a need for self-documentation, which is quite a big issue these
days.
If you think back, which is among your
favourite life periods? Or do you prefer to not indulge into nostalgia?
One of the
dearest memories I have is being on summer holidays with my family at my grandparents',
on the island where my grandfather was from. We would go out fishing early in
the morning, get a ride on his moped on these summer days, maybe have an ice
cream later, and my grandmother would make redcurrant and strawberry
cordial. I think that is the one, my most precious memory, just being
on that island and around the house. It's still the place I keep dearest.
I think I get instant nostalgia
these days, too, since time is going by so fast. The magical moments last a
second or a few minutes, then they are gone, and just realizing this is heart
breaking, really. Maybe we give too much importance to them, and now that we
can, we feel we must document them all. I don't know what is best or what is
right. It's beautiful to be able to look back on something, whether
it's tangible or a memory. These feelings are all being augmented by
companies and people, in order to make us buy more stuff, too, of course. That
doesn't make them neither right or wrong, though, nor does it mean
documenting is wrong or anything. But maybe it's good to reflect over what we
are doing, why we're doing it, because of whom and for whom. This is of course
related to the issue of Instagram and other forms of display and
people like me, who take photos and put them on the internet.
I mean, why do I
document things and apparently give them importance and share them with
whoever sees them? What's important about who I am and what I do? Why are my
photos different from anyone else's? Why is an analogue or digital or whatever
camera and its level of complexity and difficulty any different from the next
and why should that make anything more or less worthy of documentation, or
display, or purchase? And time, frequency, consistency and intention of elaboration,
do they matter? Why does the person behind the camera, her personality and
her portrayal of herself matter? Can a photograph stand for itself or does it
need a context, be it visual, conceptual, fabricated or by accident or
authentic? What's of value here and why do we like a photograph or a series of
pictures, is it because what's on display, or is it more about how it is
displayed, or how the person and her life behind the camera are displayed or
imagined?
Going back to favourite life
periods; I also like the time period I'm in now, in the sense that my
girlfriend and I both like to get away on weekends and do excursions and
short trips all around. Even if it is simply going to her mother's, out of
town. I like that a lot.
Which dish is your specialty?
Salads. I make
decent salads. :)
And is there anything you are positively obsessed with right now?
I don't know if
it is completely positive only, but yes, I'm obsessed with the idea of going
hiking and that we are actually going to Lappland to hike this year. Those five
short days have been completely occupying my mind and my life for months on end
now. It'll be great and it's a healthy and good thing to do in many respects. I'm
also thinking about the training, and the beautiful places we've been going to
until now. Then again - maybe it's not so positive if five days are to make up
for a whole year of your life and the preparations and expectations for them are
to substitute other stuff. One other good thing about it is that it's so
beautiful up there, and so physically demanding that you are finally in a place
where you simply are, without anything else. That's what I think anyway. I
think that's what many seek for, or at least think they seek for. It appears to
have a deeper meaning, even if nothing does: You anticipate the nothingness and
the sense of simply 'being', or in this case, of walking. In any case - and
with all that I've said - I'm looking forward to it a lot! :)
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